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The Supreme Court will take another look at a case testing the rights of LGBTQ people and business owners asserting their First Amendment right to religious freedom.
Oral arguments in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis will likely be held this fall. The case involves Colorado-based web designer Lorie Smith, who says her religious beliefs would not allow her to create a custom wedding website for same-sex couples.
The Court will decide whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) was also at issue when the high court heard the case of a Colorado baker who refused to make custom wedding cakes for a same-sex couple. While the Court said the baker was treated with anti-religious bias, the justices at the time sidestepped the larger question of whether certain businesses can assert a religious liberty claim when refusing to serve certain customers.
Floral artist Barronelle Stutzman (L) speaks to members of the media in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as cake artist Jack Phillips (R) looks on December 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Smith had asked the high court to review a 2–1 decision made in July 2021 by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that ruled in favor of the CADA.
"The government doesn’t have the power to silence or compel creative expression under the threat of punishment," ADF General Counsel Kristen Waggoner, Smith’s attorney, said in a press release Tuesday. "It’s shocking that the 10th Circuit would permit Colorado to punish artists whose speech isn’t in line with state-approved ideology.
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"Colorado has weaponized its law to silence speech it disagrees with, to compel speech it approves of, and to punish anyone who dares to dissent," she said. "Colorado’s law—and others like it—are a clear and present danger to every American’s constitutionally protected freedoms and the very existence of a diverse and free nation."
The ADF celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the issue, saying it could be a "landmark case for religious liberty and artistic freedom."
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